GAMBLEWOOD – Several chickens perished and their coop was destroyed in a blaze that appears to have been sparked by a heating lamp Oct. 20.

North Kitsap Fire & Rescue and Poulsbo Fire Department crews were called to a home on Serene Drive at 6:39 a.m. on Saturday morning after a neighbor noticed flames coming from a nearby outbuilding. Firefighters arrived on the scene in five minutes to find a 12-by-20-foot chicken coop, just ten feet from a residence on the same property, fully involved in flames. They were able to quickly snuff the fire before it could spread to the home, but several items stored near the coop were damaged. The additional resources that were enroute from Poulsbo and Suquamish were not needed and returned to their stations.

Officials traced the source of the fire to a heat lamp, placed in the coop to keep the birds warm as fall temperatures cool. They were not able to determine whether the blaze was sparked by combustibles too close to the lamp or by heat that built in a series of extension cords chained together to power the lamp. Both are common causes of fire.

There were no injuries to firefighters or civilians.